Eurovision Song Contest 2012
|withdraw = |director = Ladislaus Kiraly |vote = 12, 10, 8, 7 to 1 points for each ten country's favourites |winner = Loreen - Euphoria |broadcaster = İTV |previous = 2011 |next = 2013 }} The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th annual contest of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was hosted in Baku Crystal Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan, after Ell and Nikki won for Azerbaijan in 2011 with Running Scared. The two semi-finals were hosted on the 22nd and 24 May 2012 and the final on 26 May 2012. The contest was won by Loreen from Sweden with the song Euphoria which was written by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström. Euphoria earned a total of 372 points, placing it in the top spot. Russia finished in second place, with Serbia finishing in third. They were followed by the host country, Azerbaijan, which reached the 4th place. Albania achieved its first top 5 placing and finished 5th, which was their best result to date. Germany, Italy and Spain were the three members of the Big Five that managed to rank within the top 10, finishing in 8th, 9th and 10th places respectively. Format Presenters Television presenter Leyla Aliyeva, 2011 winner Eldar Gasimov and Nargiz Birk-Petersen (also a television presenter) hosted the three shows.http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=51763&_t=eldar_nargiz_leyla_to_host_eurovision_2012 Theme The theme for the 2012 Contest was "Light Your Fire!"http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=43383&_t=baku_2012_light_your_fireThis matches Azerbaijan's nickname - "Land of Fire." The Pre-Song Postcards reflected many aspects of Azerbaijan and Baku and acted as a tourism mechanism to present the country and the city to the world. Some postcards focused on Azerbaijan, while others focused on Baku with a shot of a famous landmark or landscape. The postcards then cut to a shot of the Crystal Hall lit up in the colours of the performing country. Location Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City. Baku's urban population at the beginning of 2009 was estimated at just over two million people. Participants The semi-final allocation draw was held on 25 January 2012 at the Buta Palace. The insignia handover ceremony took place before the draw began, officially beginning the countdown to the contest. The pots were as follows, calculated by the EBU's voting providers Digame and based on historical voting patternshttp://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=45043&_t=results_of_the_semi-final_allocation_draw: *Armenia withdrew about a month and a half after the draw. Returning Artists Languages *När jag blundar was performed in Swedish - the first time the language had been used in Eurovision since 1998. *Party for Everybody representing Russia was partially in Udmurt. *Love Unlimited had a few words in Azerbaijani - the language had never been performed at Eurovision before. *I'm a Joker was partially performed in Georgian - another language that had never been performed at Eurovision before. Semi-Final One , and voted in this semi-final. The EBU allowed RTSH, the Albanian broadcaster to not broadcast this semi final due to a bus accident. This meant Albania used a full jury vote instead of the televote. Rambo Amadeus Live.jpg|Rambo Amadeus Greta and Jonsi.jpg|Greta Salóme & Jónsi Eleftheria Eleftheriou Live.jpg|Eleftheria Eleftheriou Anmary Live.jpg|Anmary Rona Nishliu.jpg|Rona Nishliu Mandinga Live.jpg|Mandinga Sinplus.jpg|Sinplus Iris Live.jpg|Iris Pernilla Karlsson Live.jpg|Pernilla Karlsson Izabo Live.jpg|Izabo Valentina Monetta.jpg|Valentina Monetta Ivi Adamou Live.jpg|Ivi Adamou Soluna Samay Live.jpg|Soluna Samay Buranovskiye Babushki Live.jpg|Buranovskiye Babushki Compact Disco Live.jpg|Compact Disco Trackshittaz Live.jpg|Trackshittaz Pasha Parfeny Live.jpg|Pasha Parfeny Jedward.jpg|Jedward Semi-Final Two , the and voted in this semi-final. Germany requested that the country vote in this semi final. Armenia was supposed to participate in this semi, but then withdrew for security reasons. Zeljko Joksimovic.jpg|Željko Joksimović Kaliopi.jpg|Kaliopi Joan Franka Live.jpg|Joan Franka Kurt Calleja Live.jpg|Kurt Calleja Litesound Live.jpg|Litesound Filipa Sousa Live.jpg|Filipa Sousa Gaitana.jpg|Gaitana Sofi Marinova.jpg|Sofi Marinova Eva Boto Live.jpg|Eva Boto Nina Badric Live.jpg|Nina Badrić Loreen.jpg|Loreen Anri Jokhadze Live.jpg|Anri Jokhadze Can Bonomo Live.jpg|Can Bonomo Ott Lepland Live.jpg|Ott Lepland Max Jason Mai Live.jpg|Max Jason Mai Tooji Live.jpg|Tooji Maya Sar Live.jpg|Maya Sar Donny Montell 2012.jpg|Donny Montell Final Engelbert Humperdinck.jpg|Engelbert Humperdinck Compact DiscoLive.jpg|Compact Disco Rona Nishliu.jpg|Rona Nishliu Donny Montell 2012.jpg|Donny Montell Maya Sar Live.jpg|Maya Sar Buranovskiye Babushki Live.jpg|Buranovskiye Babushki Greta and Jonsi.jpg|Greta Salóme & Jónsi Ivi Adamou Live.jpg|Ivi Adamou Anggun.jpg|Anggun Nina Zilli.jpg|Nina Zilli Ott Lepland Live.jpg|Ott Lepland Tooji Live.jpg|Tooji Sabina Babayeva.jpg|Sabina Babayeva Mandinga Live.jpg|Mandinga Soluna Samay Live.jpg|Soluna Samay Eleftheria Eleftheriou Live.jpg|Eleftheria Eleftheriou Loreen.jpg|Loreen Can Bonomo Live.jpg|Can Bonomo Pastora Soler Live.jpg|Pastora Soler Roman Lob.jpg|Roman Lob Kurt Calleja Live.jpg|Kurt Calleja Kaliopi.jpg|Kaliopi Jedward.jpg|Jedward Zeljko Joksimovic.jpg|Željko Joksimović Gaitana.jpg|Gaitana Pasha Parfeny Live.jpg|Pasha Parfeny Withdrawing * cited financial reasons for their withdrawal on 19 October 2011.http://www.escdaily.com/articles/24348 * withdrew for security reasons on 7 March 2012 after President Aliyev of Azerbaijan gave a speech saying "Our main enemies are Armenians of the world and the hypocritical and corrupt politicians under their control."https://web.archive.org/web/20140611150354/http://en.president.az/articles/4423. AMPTV was fined by the EBU for their withdrawal http://en.ria.ru/world/20120503/173190419.html *The withdrew on 24 November 2011 due to scheduling conflicts. http://escdaily.com/articles/26649 * seemed to be considering a return to the Contest, but Phil Bosco (a former Head of Delegation) confirmed there was a lack of funds. http://eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/monaco-dampned-expectations/ * withdrew to concentrate on hosting the UEFA European Football Championship with Ukraine. http://www.escdaily.com/poland-tvp-withdraws-from-eurovision-2012/ References Category:Azerbaijan Category:Sweden Category:Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Category:21st Century Eurovision Category:Winners with a score over 300 points